Allie Durbin
AP Language and Composition
Mrs. Smith
August 18, 2016
The Grapes of Wrath Comparison
Ethics vs Laws "I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other"(Harriet Tubman). Harriet Tubman was known for breaking the law for all the right reasons, simply to save the lives of the innocent. In the novels The Adventures of Huck Finn written by Mark Twain, and The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck, the main characters have similar morals to Tubman. Huck Finn and Tom Joad commit a series of crimes, although are still referred to as heroes. These two authors believe that one's morals are more valuable than the law. Throughout these …show more content…
In The Adventures of Huck Finn, Huck is raised by an abusive, neglectful father. "You've put on considerable many frills since I been away. I'll take you down a peg before I get done with you. You're educated, too, they say- can read and write. You think you're better'n your father, now, don't you, because he can't? I'll take it out of you" (Twain 30). He isolates Huck in a cabin out in the woods as a way to cut off his education because he himself deemed it unnecessary. He also beats Huck when he gets drunk and almost shoots him at one point. Huck still manages to slip through his fathers close watch and fakes his death, then runs off. The reader is meant to sympathize for Huck because he does not have a family and is now on his own. He then illegally helps a runaway slave, named Jim, to freedom which would be frowned upon in his time period, but is looked at as the right thing to have done from the reader's point of view. In The Grapes of Wrath, Tom Joad is originally projected as a coldblooded killer, but is then revealed as a man who had to do what was necessary of him. Tom followed the rules in prison and kept his sanity, all so he could come home and support his family. He is all around a strong character and keeps his family stable throughout many …show more content…
One of the main themes throughout both novels is the need to always find something better. One of the symbols in The Grapes of Wrath was the turtle. It always seemed to be looking but never finding what it wanted. The people living in the West were looking for better wages and better lives, but were never pleased. In The Adventures of Huck Finn, slaves were looking for their freedom and better lives. Huck helps Jim escape to the free land where he could live as a free slave without having to go back to his owner. Harriet Tubman also shared this belief as she assisted many slaves, illegally, to freedom. "When slavery was the law, there were still those who, as a part of the Underground Railroad, helped to break that law because it was morally right to do so. Those people were lawbreakers, but history regards them positively"
AP Language and Composition
Mrs. Smith
August 18, 2016
The Grapes of Wrath Comparison
Ethics vs Laws "I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other"(Harriet Tubman). Harriet Tubman was known for breaking the law for all the right reasons, simply to save the lives of the innocent. In the novels The Adventures of Huck Finn written by Mark Twain, and The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck, the main characters have similar morals to Tubman. Huck Finn and Tom Joad commit a series of crimes, although are still referred to as heroes. These two authors believe that one's morals are more valuable than the law. Throughout these …show more content…
In The Adventures of Huck Finn, Huck is raised by an abusive, neglectful father. "You've put on considerable many frills since I been away. I'll take you down a peg before I get done with you. You're educated, too, they say- can read and write. You think you're better'n your father, now, don't you, because he can't? I'll take it out of you" (Twain 30). He isolates Huck in a cabin out in the woods as a way to cut off his education because he himself deemed it unnecessary. He also beats Huck when he gets drunk and almost shoots him at one point. Huck still manages to slip through his fathers close watch and fakes his death, then runs off. The reader is meant to sympathize for Huck because he does not have a family and is now on his own. He then illegally helps a runaway slave, named Jim, to freedom which would be frowned upon in his time period, but is looked at as the right thing to have done from the reader's point of view. In The Grapes of Wrath, Tom Joad is originally projected as a coldblooded killer, but is then revealed as a man who had to do what was necessary of him. Tom followed the rules in prison and kept his sanity, all so he could come home and support his family. He is all around a strong character and keeps his family stable throughout many …show more content…
One of the main themes throughout both novels is the need to always find something better. One of the symbols in The Grapes of Wrath was the turtle. It always seemed to be looking but never finding what it wanted. The people living in the West were looking for better wages and better lives, but were never pleased. In The Adventures of Huck Finn, slaves were looking for their freedom and better lives. Huck helps Jim escape to the free land where he could live as a free slave without having to go back to his owner. Harriet Tubman also shared this belief as she assisted many slaves, illegally, to freedom. "When slavery was the law, there were still those who, as a part of the Underground Railroad, helped to break that law because it was morally right to do so. Those people were lawbreakers, but history regards them positively"